Friends are Never Forgotten
by Aura Master
Summary: After 4 years since Ash Ketchum's disappearance, a new man appears and wins the Indigo Leaguequite easily. Now a new tournament called the Survival Tournament approaches. Who will win? Possible LeafShipping, Cavaliershipping, and Hoenn or ContestShipping
1. ReArrival of Old Friends

**Me: Hello and welcome to next, and hopefully last, story! I was reading another story with similar couples and I thought I'd try it myself! Enjoy!**

_**Re-Arrival of Old Friends**_

"Ritchie has run out of pokemon! The winner of this round and the winner of the Indigo Plateau Tournament is Satoshi Seizon!" A large amount of the crowd cheered before it was cut off the T.V. being shut off. The brunnete sighed as she put down the remote and got up from the couch. This girl decided to watch the Indigo to see if she could learn anything before the new tournament would start. She didn't know much about it except it being called "The Survival Tournament".

A voice outside broke the girls' thoughts. Walking towards her door she snapped open her blinds to see a man about 18 years old, her age. He wore a black t-shirt with a blue zip up sweatshirt which was still open and dark grey pants and black and red shoes. He had sapphire blue eyes and had ebony hair, neck length with bangs covering his eyes. By the looks of it he was walking for a long while because he plopped onto the dewy grass, slinging his backpack off his shoulders.

She opened her door and walked outside. The man, hearing a door opening and closing he turned his head to see a girl his age walk towards him. She wore a dark green t-shirt with black jeans and had chestnut brown hair.

He immediately stood, "Hello." He greeted with a small smile on his face.

The girl returned the smile, "Hello sir. Are you alright? You look pretty tired." She said with a hint of concern.

The man just shook his head, "No, I'm alright Ms. Green." He said without thinking. The blue eyed man immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, silently cursing.

"Ms. Green's" eyes widened, "H-how do you know my last name? Who are you?" She directed a stern glare to the strange man. But the man didn't feel it and just chuckled softly as if remembering something.

He smirked, "Alright Ms. Leaf Green. My name is Satoshi Seizon and I know your name because I've heard of your accomplishments. You have competed in the Indigo League and ended up landing in the Top 8. The same goes with the Silver Conference. You also got into the Top 2 in the Hoenn League. It is a pleasure to be in acquaintance of the great Leaf Green." He bowed curtly with a smirk on his face at the flushed face of Leaf.

She turned her back to Satoshi, trying to hide her face, "Shut up." She mumbled. It was quiet for a minute when Leaf realized something, "Hey, aren't you the one who beat the Indigo League just a week ago?" She asked turning around. Her face was back to normal but her blue eyes held a glint.

Satoshi smirked, crossing his arms, "Yes. Quite easily actually." He could've sworn he heard Leaf mumble "I noticed." but he shook his head.

"Well, why are you here in Johto anyway? I thought you said you were headed to Sinnoh." Leaf said remembering a conference before the tournament ended about Satoshi.

Satoshi nodded, "Yes, I was. But that was before I heard about the Survival Tournament. I came here because I heard that it was centered in Johto. Am I right?" He asked, picking up his backpack.

Leaf nodded, "Yeah that's what I heard. Do you have a place to stay for the night here?"

"Let me ask you something Ms. Green?" Where is 'here' exactly?" The blue eyed boy asked with a smug look.

The brunnete just rolled her eyes, "'Here' Satoshi is Olivine City. Even _you _should know that." She rolled her eyes but Satoshi just let a smirk crawl on his face, "But back to my question, do you have a place to stay for the night?" She asked again.

Satoshi just shrugged, "I was just going to sleep outside or sleep in a Pokemon Centre," He looked in the sky and saw that the orange and pink sunset dim into a dark glow, signifying that it was very close to night, "But it looks like I'll have to sleep outside."

"You sure? I'm staying at my parents' vacation house and there are enough rooms for about 10 people. You can stay here if you want."

Satoshi smiled gratefully, "I appreciate the offer Ms. Green. Thank you." He bowed curtly again. Leaf just rolled her eyes and walked back to her parents vacation house, Satoshi following.

"Just call me Leaf."

The man just smirked behind her back, "As you wish Ms. Leaf." He chuckled causing Leaf to direct a short glare at him. When they entered said house Satoshi was amazed at the design. The floors were made of polished mahogany with no screws, dents, curves, or any hardwood in it. At the middle of the room was a black linen couch with the left end of it extending so you could lie down without getting in anyone's way. Next to the couch on the left was a dark red love seat while on the opposite end of the couch was a simple dark green reclining chair. In-front of the three seats was a 42 inch flat screen T.V. and in-between the T.V. and seats was a square coffee table. Next to it was a kitchen and a little behind the linen couch were stairs leading up to the guest rooms.

Leaf grinned at the amazement in Satoshi's eyes, "I see you like the house."

Satoshi nodded, "Yeah, it-"He was cut off by his phone ringing. Leaf squeaked in surprise at the ringtone he had.

_Living in a world so cold  
>Wasting away<br>Living in a shell with no soul  
>Since you've gotten away<em>

Satoshi sighed, getting out his phone, "Satoshi here." There was silence for a minute before Satoshi finally answered, "Yeah I get it. Alright, bye." He hung up his phone and gave an annoyed sigh.

"Sorry about that. My friend loves to talk a lot." Satoshi apologized to Leaf. He could've sworn he saw her face twist but he thought he was seeing things again. That's when he noticed something on the coffee table. Walking over to the table he picked up the item and saw three kids and two adults in the picture.

"Who are these people Ms. Green? Are these your friends?" Satoshi asked Leaf. Said girl walked over to the picture Seizon was holding.

She leaned in to see it, "Yeah. The adult woman is Delia Ketchum. The old man is Professor Oak. The kid standing next to the professor is his grandson Gary Oak. That's me in the middle and the last one is Ash Ketchum." Satoshi noticed that she choked at the last name. He looked over the picture again. Delia Ketchum: a brown-reddish haired woman with a pink shirt and brown pants. Professor Oak: a gray haired man with his hair spiked to the left who wore a brown t-shirt with a white lab coat and gray pants. Gary Oak: brown hair spiked forward and wore a purple t-shirt with black pants and held a sneaky grin. Leaf Green: a turquoise sleeveless shirt with a red skirt halfway down her thighs. Finally Ash Ketchum, which caused Satoshi to unconsciously give off a small smile. This kid had ebony hair that was spiked in all directions with chocolate brown eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with a blue jacket and blue pants.

He set the picture down and glanced towards Leaf, "You seemed sad mentioning Mr. Ash Ketchum. Is it okay if you could tell me?" Noticing the pained look on the girls' face, he quickly added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Leaf just shook her head, "No it's ok. I don't mind. Besides I'm sure you would've found out anyway." Satoshi was confused by that last statement but just shook it off and sat down next to Leaf on the linen couch.

Leaf sighed, closing her eyes, "Four years ago after the Sinnoh Ash Ketchum went missing. No one new why or how. Right after losing to Tobias Ash fell into a depression and locked himself in his room in the pokemon center. When his friends Brock Harrison and Dawn Berlitz checked on him the next morning they saw he was gone, along with his pokemon. The only thing left was a note saying: "_I am sorry my friends, but I have to go. I have much to learn, bye._" And that was it. Two years later reporters said that Ash was dead. They said they found his body in the crumbling ruins of the Team Rocket headquarters. Everyone was so brokenhearted when they found out. His mother was saddened the most by that fact. Everyone was. Now every year we go to Delia's home in Pallet Town to celebrate Ash's accomplishments."

Satoshi frowned in sadness, "I'm sorry. But I do have a question. What did you mean by: _I'm sure you would've found out anyway._" He asked in confusion.

Leaf laughed lightly, "Oh that. Well most of my friends are competing in the Survival Tournament. So they're coming here because I'm the only one who has a home here in Johto. You might get to meet them." Satoshi nodded and looked outside. Noticing the blackened sky and the sparkling full moon Satoshi stood up and bid Leaf a goodnight before heading into one of the guestrooms. Satoshi closed his door and threw his backpack onto the bed. After turning on a lamplight he turned to his bed noticing his backpack shaking anxiously.

Satoshi sighed, unzipping the backpack, "Sorry buddy." He gestured to his little rodent that climbed out of the bag.

The rodent glared at Satoshi, "Pika! Pipi Pi!" The rodent growled loudly.

Satoshi whacked his pokemon's head, "Shut up Pikachu. I don't want you to alert Leaf." Satoshi growled right back, just quieter.

Pikachu sighed, "Pikapi. Pika pi pipika." The little mouse plopped onto Satoshi's bed for the next couple of days.

"I know buddy, I know." Satoshi smiled sadly before falling asleep.

_**-PKMN-**_

Leaf yawned and sat up, stretching her arms. She scratched her head and turned her head to her alarm clock and glared at it, trying to see it.

With her vision regaining, she saw the time, "Ugh, 7:00 a.m.? Why do I have to be an early riser?" She groaned, throwing herself back on the bed. She contemplated on trying to go back to sleep, but that idea died out for two reasons. 1) She heard a faint noise of a T.V. and 2) When you wake up, you stay up. That's what she learned.

Leaf sat up, "Well, might as well go get a shower and see what that noise is." She shrugged and grabbed a towel and some extra clothes and headed to a bathroom connected to her room. A few minutes later Leaf reappeared, her hair damp. She wore a blue long sleeve shirt and dark blue pants. She yawned perked her ears as she headed downstairs to find out why her T.V. was on.

Finishing her walk downstairs she noticed something, or someone, familiar and sighed in relief, "Hey Satoshi." She greeted walking to the kitchen.

Satoshi leaned his head back, "Hey Leaf. There's breakfast on the counter if you want some. I only finished it 5 minutes ago so it's still warm." He informed the girl changing the T.V. channel again. Leaf looked at the plate of food in-front of her: a couple stripes of bacon, two pieces of toast, each with jelly on them and scrambled eggs.

She picked up a fork and scooped some scrambled eggs into her mouth, "Wow Satoshi! This is good! Where'd you learn to cook like this?" She looked at said man over the counter.

Satoshi just chuckled, "I learned to cook from a good friend." Leaf thought sadness glazed over his eyes but she thought she was seeing things and went back to eating when her phone ringed.

_I won't suffer, be broken  
>Get tired or wasted<br>Surrender to nothing, I'll give up what I started  
>And stopped it from end to beginning<em>

Leaf checked the caller id and smiled, "Hey May what's up?" She answered her phone happily. It was at this time Satoshi took a laptop out of his backpack and turned it on, typing his password. As Satoshi pressed 'enter' the computer answered with it coming to life. Leaf snapped her phone shut and, after placing her now empty dish in the sink, walked over to Satoshi and sat next to him on the couch.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at her sudden happiness, "What's got you happy Leaf?"

"Well my friend May Maple was there and she said that she and two of her friends would be able to get here today. And before you ask, yes she and her friends will be competing in the Survival Tournament also." She stated. Red nodded and checked his e-mail.

Red narrowed his eyes, "Three unread." He clicked on the bar to show his e-mail's and visibly flinched at one.

Leaf noticed the flinch, "What's wrong?" Satoshi forgot she was even here and silently cursed to himself. Before she could check why he flinched Satoshi slammed his computer shut and put it back in his backpack.

Leaf jumped back in shock but retained herself and glared at the man, "What was that for? I was only wondering!" She almost shouted at him.

"It's none of your business." He said in a harsh tone that would've made even Sabrina shake in her shoes. Before she could rebuttal Satoshi ran back up into his room and locked the door. He threw his backpack onto the bed and slid down the door, visibly shaken. Pikachu was able to break free of the prison called a backpack and sighed in relief. Before he could scold his master the little mouse noticed his master shaking.

"Pikapi!" The mouse yelled dashing to his oldest friend.

Satoshi noticed Pikachu's scared look and smiled, patting him on the head, "Sorry to worry you but we have a problem." The mouse was confused but Satoshi just pulled out his I-phone and pulled out his s-mail. Selecting a certain one he showed it to the mouse. Even if his fellow Pikachu couldn't speak English didn't mean that he couldn't read it.

Pikachu's eyes widened at the mail, _I am coming for you Ashton._

Satoshi nodded grimly, "If you think that's bad, look who sent it." Pikachu read the name of who sent it and his cheeks sparked...

_Giovanni_.

"What are we going to do?" Satoshi held his head in his hands, "He already to one person away from me. He might go after someone else. And I can't risk it." A few minutes of silence passed.

Leaf was shocked he said something that harsh. His eyes turned cold and his, aura changed from, what she felt, a happy soul into a sad, anger embedded one. Her rain was racked so much she didn't notice that her doorbell ring. She shook her head bringing herself back to reality and got up, heading to her door. Opening it she noticed three familiar people, two girls and one guy. The girl in the middle was a brunnete. She wore an emerald green bandana, an orange and red orange sleeveless T-shirt with a black collar, black bike shorts, black socks, and red and white sneakers. A green purse was attached to her belt.

The girl next to her was a blunnete. Her midnight blue hair was covered by a white beanie with a pink half poke ball symbol. She wore a black tank top with a white collar and had a pink skirt that went down to her thighs. In one of her arms was a Piplup.

The man next to the blunnete was a man with spiked brown hair. He wore a black t-shirt with purple jeans and had a necklace that encased something. He was holding one of the blunnete's hands.

Leaf beamed, "May, Dawn Gary!" She let them into her house.

May immediately hugged her, "Hey Leaf how've ya been?"

Leaf hugged her back, "I've been better." Leaf and May met when May was traveling Johto. When May Maple came in Olivine City the pour soul was tired out from traveling and training for so long. Leaf had invited her into her parent's vacation house when she and her parents decided to take a trip to Johto. They bonded quickly.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked noticing a small trace of sadness in her friends' voice. Dawn and Leaf had met when Dawn and Gary had started to go out. When Gary had told everyone over video phone Dawn and Leaf got into a talk that lasted almost 24 hours. And I'm not kidding.

"Well you see-" She was cut off by footsteps. Everyone turned to the stairs to see Satoshi come down, an apologetic look on his face.

"Hey, Leaf, sorry-" The blue eyed man stopped noticing the three new people here.

"Uh, hello?" He tried to make conversation after three minutes of dead silence.

Dawn said something out of the blue, "Leaf is he your boyfriend?" Leaf choked on some water she got during the silence.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow, "Ah yes. You are Dawn Berlitz: coordinator extraordinaire. Your hero is May Maple and have competed in many contests, and have won 2 Grand Festivals. Unfortunately you dig yourself _way _too deep into people's personal lives. And no, me and Leaf are not a couple. We only met yesterday when she invited me in." Satoshi said nonchalantly which shocked everyone even more.

May blinked, "What just happened? And who are you anyway?" She asked holding her head to stop it from spinning.

Satoshi grinned, "My apologies. You may know me from the Indigo Tournament. I am Satoshi Seizon, it is a please to meet you all." He bowed curtly, grinning wildly at their shocked faces. He then turned to Leaf.

"And as I was going to say before: I am sorry for my rude outburst towards you. I had no right to do that, but that e-mail was personal." He bowed again.

"You can stop that bowing thing Satoshi." Leaf commented dryly.

Gary interrupted, "Hold on!" Everyone turned to Samuel Oak's grandson, confusion written on their faces.

"Aren't you the one who beat the Indigo League Tournament easily last week?" He asked loudly at Satoshi.

Seizon nodded, "Yes that would be me. Would you like to battle? The man asked with a sadistic grin. Everyone shivered under that smirk but they composed themselves and Gary nodded, a grin of his own.

Gary motioned towards the door, "Let's go." Satoshi nodded and he and Oak went outside along with May, Dawn and Leaf.

Gary grabbed a poke ball, "Umbreon come on out!" He brought out his faithful dark type.

"Umbre!" The dark Eevee evolution growled at Satoshi.

The man just grinned, also bringing out a poke ball, "Infernape fight for me!" He threw the ball into the air. The ball cracked open and out popped at fire-fighting type. It was also the final evolution of the fire starter in Sinnoh.

"Hey I know him!" Dawn suddenly shouted. Leaf, May and Gary turned to her.

"What is it?" May asked anxiously.

"That's the final evolution of the fire starter in Sinnoh!" She exclaimed and her Piplup squawked in agreement.

Gary just grinned, "Since he's also part fighting type he has an advantage. This should be interesting. Umbreon let's start with Quick Attack!"

"Dodge and use Mach Punch." Umbreon dashed at the fire monkey at amazing speed but the larger of the two jumped behind the Eevee-lution. Infernape's hand turned blue as he shot forward at speed great enough to put a Dodrio hopped up on Carbos to shame. The attack landed its mark and Umbreon slid backward and almost hit a wall. Luckily Umbreon was able to stop himself from falling causing Gary to smile.

"Nice Job Umbreon, now, Psychic!" Gary commanded with a grin.

Satoshi also gave a grin, "Use Calm Mind and follow up with Flamethrower." Umbreon's eyes grew blue and glared at the meditating Infernape. A blue glow appeared around the ape. As he was lifted up into the air by Umbreon's Psychic he snapped his eyes open and broke through the Psychic attack firing a molten beam of fire. The dark Eevee evolution was in shock long enough for the Flamethrower to hit causing the dark type to fly back. Before Umbreon could regain his footing Satoshi called out an order.

"Quick Infernape finish this with Mach Punch!" Satoshi called. Infernape dashed towards the struggling Umbreon with his fist bright blue. The attack hit a critical super effective. Umbreon flew back getting caught back by Gary.

Gary looked down at his fainted pokemon, "Nice try Umbreon. Return." He returned him. Gary looked up at Satoshi who had returned his fellow fire type. The man walked over and held his hand out to Oak's grandson.

Gary shook it, "Nice job." Gary smiled. Satoshi nodded with him with a grin of his own. The three girls smiled at the sportsmanship and walked over to the two guys.

Satoshi turned to the girls, "Well I don't think I've met the bandanna girl. Please, introduce yourself, or may I give a long speech about your accomplishments?" He grinned at their heads shaking 'no' vigorously.

May laughed, "No that's alright. I am May Maple. Pleased to meet you." May held out a hand. Satoshi took it and gave a smile of his own.

"Are you three also in the tournament?" He gestured to Dawn, May and Gary. All three nodded their heads causing. The blue eyed man to grin once again.

He walked towards the house but turned stopped, turning to the others, "Then you might need to train more. And also, go ahead and tell me when the others get here." After that he said nothing more and walked into the house. Pulling out his phone/I-pad he fiddled with it and a scowl appeared on his face as he sent an e-mail.

"I _will _kill you Giovanni." He promised to himself, sending the e-mail. He walked into his room, preparing for a future battle, pokemon and for life.

**Me: Ok that was the first chapter. I would've made it longer but I thought that was a good enough ending. But then again maybe not, but oh well. R&R and see you next chapter! Peace! :D **


	2. Rules Revealed

**Me: Welcome back! If you read my other stories and noticed I hadn't updated my stories for a while it was because school kept distracting me and kept me **_**really **_**busy. But let's not talk about that, here's chapter 2!**

_**Rules Revealed**_

Satoshi sighed, setting his I-pad in his pocket. Sliding onto his bed the black haired teen thought about his battle with Gary.

_He sure has become stronger. _Satoshi gave a sad smile. _Too bad I can't show him it's me, not yet._ That's when he remembered. He waited a moment before his fellow yellow mouse jumped from his spot on the window and jumped onto the bed and faced Satoshi, cocking his head in a cute way.

"Hey buddy, what'd you think of the battle?" During their battle the little electric type walked up to the window observing the battle between his master and the youngest Oak.

The little mouse smiled and nodded, "Pi Pik!" Satoshi patted his faithful mouse on the head in recognition.

"Thanks buddy. And I'm sorry for whacking you upside the head this morning. I was just shocked that Giovanni would do such a thing. Oh, Infernape come on out." He grabbed a poke ball from his belt and tossed it into the air. A crack emitted from the opening ball and a white light came out and rematerialized when it hit the floor. A few seconds later the light dispersed and the fire monkey appeared with a small grin on his face.

"Nice job out there Infernape. Think anybody noticed anything familiar about you?" The monkey with fire as hair shook his head.

The blue eyed man nodded, "Let's try and keep it that way, at least for not until I meet Giovanni." He sneered. Both his pokemon nodded in grit determination before they all heard a knock at his door. Quickly returning Infernape Satoshi motioned Pikachu to get under the bed. Complying the little mouse quickly scampered under, using his nocturnal vision to help see.

Satoshi opened the door, revealing Gary, "Hey man. I just wanted to thank you for the amazing battle. Can I talk with you for a moment?" Satoshi raised an eyebrow but let Oak in. Sitting on his bed Gary heard a squeak when he plopped down on it. His eyes widened a little hearing the squeak. Immediately dropping to the ground he brought the sheet of the bed up and saw the eyes of the pokemon that made the squeak.

"Pika!" The mouse dashed backwards deeper into the dark.

Gary popped his head up, "Is that you pokemon?" He asked the older of the two.

Satoshi nodded and kneeled, "Pikachu, come out." He sighed, giving a mental sigh. The little mouse hesitated before crawling out and jumping into his masters arms.

"You have a Pikachu. Hi little buddy, I'm Gary Oak." He patted the mouse's head. Pikachu contemplated for a moment: should he zap Oak as revenge or just smile and wait till later. Felling the glare of his master burn a hole in the back of his head Pikachu just smiled and gave a small "cha", a hidden grin combined with an ingenious plan imbedded in the back of his head.

"How long have you had him?" Gary asked, a hint a familiarity in his eye. Satoshi saw that glint and tensed a little but relaxed.

"I've had him for a while. I remember meeting him in the Viridian Forest, where most of these little guys resided." He came up with lie. Well it technically wasn't...

"Where did you start your journey?" Oak kept pondering where he'd seen the little mouse.

Satoshi bit his tongue, "I started out in Kanto." Suddenly Gary's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. Satoshi's stomach shot up to and shattered his ribcage. But before Gary Oak could answer a call from downstairs broke the teeth chattering silence.

"Satoshi, Gary come down here!" Leaf's voice echoed through the silent room. Seizon took his chance and set Pikachu down and dashed downstairs. Gary glared at the mouse for a second before going downstairs as well. Both meeting downstairs they saw Leaf, Dawn and May watching the T.V. which held a white background and standing in-front of it was a familiar face to all.

"Mr. Goodshow!" They all yelled, shocked.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Goodshow in-case you were wondering. I am here to tell all who are participating in the Survival Tournament the rules and regulations about it."

Gary gave a frustrated sigh, "He hosted the Indigo Plateau Tourney and Silver Conference! What's next, hosting the Survival Tournament?" An answer soon appeared...

"I am also hosting the Survival Tournament and the next Hoenn and Sinnoh Tournament!" He grinned and gave a peace sign causing everyone who was watching this to fall on their face.

Satoshi got up and rubbed his head, "Well that answers that I guess."

Mr. Goodshow coughed, clearing his throat, "Well, moving on. Only trainers who are 20 and under may enter the tournament. Reasons are so young trainers can face their own kind and build up to be masters, not be defeated easily against other masters. Now, where the tournament will take place. Due to the new idea the makers of this had about this it will be taking place on the..." He suddenly stopped, and the T.V. went fuzzy. Everyone shot up suddenly, confused and suspicious.

"What was that?" Gary asked, gripping his starters poke ball. An explosion was heard outside and a large vibration echoed through the surrounding area.

"It came from outside!" Seizon shouted, dashing out into the large field of dust. Everyone soon followed and the sheet of grains disappeared and a large machine was soon seen rolling though the area. It stopped and the teens saw that it was a tank. The top popped open and three figures dramatically appeared, concealed by the shadows.

"Prepare for trouble!" A female voice echoed.

"And make it double!" A male voice synched with the females'.

"To protect the world from devastation!" The female continued.

"To unite all people's within our nation!" Male.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" Female.

The male continued, "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

The female jumped off the tank and into the sunlight in an over dramatic fashion, "Jessie!" She proclaimed.

The male followed suit, and was shown holding a single red rose, "James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

A cat pokemon joined his teammates and grinned evilly, "Meowth that's right!"

A large vein popped on Gary's, Dawn's and May's forehead, "What are you three doing here?" They all screamed in unison.

Satoshi face palmed, "Why are you three _still _singing that motto? Team Rocket was disbanded three years ago." He mumbled to himself quietly enough so no one heard him.

Jessie waved a hand in dismissal, "No need to worry twerps and twerpettes (sp?). We just came by to say hi. But I don't remember you." She pointed to Leaf.

"The names Leaf Green."

A though popped into James' head, "Oh yes, I remember hearing something about you." He glanced between Green and Seizon. Satoshi's face flushed a little remembering a conversation he had a while back.

"Shouldn't you try to take our pokemon but ultimately fail and get blasted into the sky screaming: "Team Rocket's blasting off again...?" Dawn's voice trailed off as if she were disappearing in the sky causing Gary to chuckle.

A vein appeared in Jessie's head but Meowth waved it off, "Cool it twerpette. We know Team Rocket disbanded. In-fact we helped your little buddy..." The cat paused for a second, "Ash I think? Yeah, that was it. We helped Ash destroy the Team Rocket base." He noticed everybody tense and saw Satoshi hide the pained look in his eyes.

Meowth flinched, "Oh yeah, sorry what happened about your friend." He bit his bottom lip as a silence washed over.

Satoshi suddenly shook his head, "Enough. Why are you three here anyway if you know Team Rocket was destroyed and disbanded?" He asked, letting the pain vanish from his face.

Jessie nodded, "Yeah, about that. We found a job selling antiques and what-not here in Olivine. We stopped by here to tell you since I over-heard that you all are participating in the Survival Tourney thing while I was out picking some berries."

May eyed the large vehicle behind them, "And the tank?" She snapped her fingers in the direction of the destructive 'toy' as Team Rocket would've called it back then.

"We use this as transport from thugs and poachers and we're going to have a huge contest soon to see if anyone can get this bad boy." James patted a hand on his old friend he created.

Gary scratched the back of his head, "Well... Good luck with that I guess?" He shrugged, not knowing what to say. The former members of Team Rocket nodded before jumping back in and started rolling their way through the small forest back to their store when everyone heard a familiar alarm.

"Crap it's the cops!" Team Rocket yelled in dismay causing the group of teens to chuckle quietly. They all went back inside and saw the T.V. flicker back to life and saw Mr. Goodshow scratch his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry about the delay: technical difficulties. Now, back to the rules. So far we have about 2,954 competitors. What we decided is when we get about 4,000 trainers entering we will have to cut off the sign-ins. We deeply apologize for everyone who wanted to join. What we decided to do for the preliminaries is we set 200 trainers in 20 different islands," Everyone's eyes widened: 4,000 trainers all trying to win: 20 different islands filled with 200 trainers each.

"Not, I know it might be shocking but it's the best we could do. Your objective: You will be given the necessary supplies that can help you last. If you meet another trainer, you must battle him. Yet you may only bring 3 pokemon with you. Cameras will be monitoring your progress. If you defeat the trainer; he or she will be teleported to the pokemon center. If they lose, they're out of the tournament. This cycle will continue until the island has 100 trainers left. The last of the people on the island will be teleported, courtesy of our Alakazam's, to the main arena where they will wait for further instructions. Rules on the next round will be said there. Of, almost forgot; the tournament starts July 5th! Have a pleasant day contenders and good luck!" The T.V. faded black when Leaf shut it off. Everyone was surprised at the rules. And that was only the **preliminaries**.

Satoshi craned his neck and sighed, "Ok, we know the rules and we have about a month to train. I don't know about you but I'm gonna get my three pokemon I'm gonna use and train them for now. See ya in a little." We waved them off and walked out, heading to the Pokemon Center.

Gary sat down on the chair and closed in his eyes, "There's something not right about Satoshi Seizon." He mumbled to himself quietly.

May suddenly leaned down on the chair and her head was next to Gary, "What's not right, his last name?"

Gary rolled his eyes and shot the chair backwards making May fall on her butt, "That. And also I feel like I've seen him before. What does Seizon mean?"

Leaf plopped down on the loveseat, "Seizon means Survival."

A though shot it's way to Gary's brain, _One year ago Ash Ketchum's body was found in the rubble of Team Rocket's base, yet he held no blood or scratches. Doctors are baffled on how this young Pokemon trainer had died with no blood seeping through the outside of his body. A few days later his body had disappeared from the emergency room at Viridian Central, one of the main hospitals in Kanto, the tubes keeping him in the world were disconnected; the only thing left was a drop of blood, _Pokemon Blood_..._

Gary's eyes widened, "I have to get to the Pokemon Center!" He flew out of his seat, almost making the chair fall onto the dizzy May.

Leaf raised an eyebrow, "What was that about?"

Dawn shrugged, walking to the kitchen, "He probably figured out the _Mystery of Satoshi_." She tried to sound dramatic bust failed when hearing her newest of her two friends snort.

"Yeah, yeah. You know, when was the last time we had a battle?" May asked and sat up, her headache gone.

Leaf grinned, "You're right. How about a Triple Battle?" Her two friends nodded and they all headed outside. After forming an equilateral triangle the three girlfriends grabbed a poke ball.

They threw them into the air, "Go Venasaur/Blaziken/Empoleon!" Their starters were released, all in a bright white light.

May noticed something different about Dawn's starter, "So, Piplup finally decided to evolve into it final form?" Dawn nodded. With their pokemon now ready to test their skills they launched towards to each other, ready to strike.

Gary ran towards the Pokemon Centre as fast as his legs could carry, making them look like spinning wheels. He flew through the Pokemon Center doors and almost crashed into Satoshi while he was at it. As he fell into the floor he grabbed the attention of everyone in the Pokemon Center who was waiting to be registered and/or wait to have their pokemon healed.

Satoshi knelt down beside him, "7.5" Gary looked up and saw Seizon holding a large piece of white cardboard with the number **7.5** painted largely in red. Suddenly Gareth Oak shot up and grabbed the mystery man by the arm and dragged him outside.

When his arm sleeve was let go off Satoshi grabbed his twitching wrist, "Why in the world did you do that?"

What Gary answered with, gave a shock to Seizon that froze his nervous system, "Where the hell have you been ASH KETCHUM!"

**A/N: There's the end. I'm sorry this chapter was shorter was the last one but I thought it ended well here. Well, Gary has found out that Seizon is Ash. How will Seizon counter? And if you noticed that I haven't updated any of my stories it was because of my god damn school life. I'll update them when I get some ideas and I'm starting Chapter 2 of Pokemon Assassin's. Oh well, see ya next chap!**

**Poll:  
>Drew (2-28%)<br>Brendan(7-51%)**


	3. One Month of Frustration

**Me: I'm back with Chapter 3 of Friends are Never Forgotten. Sorry I haven't updated in a... I have no excuse. Enjoy.**

_**One Month of Training, One Month of Frustration**_

Satoshi stopped cold, his face threatening to betray him. His nervous system froze at the info that Gary just threw at him. Yet, because of his training, Seizon was able to keep his poker face on.

Gary on the other hand was seething, "You heard me! Where have you been Ash!?" He yelled again, his face becoming red. Satoshi sighed and took his hat off, sliding a hand through his hair.

He looked at Gary directly in his eye, "Proof?"

Gary stopped, his face returning to normal, "What?" He asked, shell shocked at this. He just exposed Satoshi as his old friend and all he can say is...proof?

"Do you have proof Gareth Oak?" Seizon asked again, folding his arms across his chest, his hair getting in his eyes.

"What?" Gary asked again, shaking his head, was he hearing this right?

Satoshi sighed again, how could he explain this without losing his mind, "I'll ask again: Do you have any proof to make me known as the dead Ashton Ketchum?" Satoshi bit his tongue, almost saying Ash's middle name. Gary's ego just deflated...he was right, but wait?

"Hold on: what about the 'news flash' that told about Ash's death and escape one week later after having his body salvaged from the rubble. It was said that when the doctor that was caring for him returned a week after Ash arrived at the hospital and saw that his body wasn't there. The doctor panicked, and searched the entire room, and noticed that one of the tubes he was hooked up to had a drop of liquid. The doctor took a closer look and saw it was blood, but the color of it was a purplish-blue. It was POKEMON BLOOD." Gary smirked, hoping to get 'Ash' to react the way that he wanted. Unfortunately it didn't work because Satoshi still held a poker face but on the inside he was sweating bullets.

"So? How do you know that one of his pokemon didn't just up and free him to give his/her master a proper burial? Before you say anything," Satoshi interrupted Gary, "Don't forget that his pokemon were next to him on a table. One of his pokemon could've just released itself and got the tubes off him, but must've cut him/herself in the process. It must've also been a strong pokemon, because there were a few dents and scratches in the hospital as well." Gary dropped to his knees, this wasn't Ash...he was still dead. A tear was shed and fell to the floor.

Satoshi dropped to one knee and patted Gary's shoulder, "I know you miss him Gary. I had heard a lot about Ash, more than you think. He was a great man, and he wouldn't want you to cry now does he?" Gary shook his head and stood up, his head still down.

Satoshi grinned, "That's Gary for ya. Let's head back to Leaf's house and train. We only have a month to do this so we'd better hurry." Gary nodded and both walked back to Leaf's in silence.

About ¾ of the way through Gary spoke up, "Hey Seizon, sorry for mistaking you for Ash. It's just you look almost exactly like him." Satoshi chuckled at Gary's statement, he was somewhat right.

"I guess I do now don't I. Well then I apologize. I also apologize if my name meant any significant importance to you." Gary smacked his head, he had forgotten about that.

"Don't worry. Let's just get back and start training." Satoshi nodded and both reached Leaf's place before noon and saw May's Blaziken versus Leaf's Venasaur, with Dawn's Empoleon and his master sitting near the battlefield, obviously she lost. Nearby was another one of Ash's old friends.

"Brock!" Said man turned to see a new face and Gary. Brock was a dark skinned adult with slit eyes and wore an orange t-shirt with a green jacket with multiple pockets and brown jeans.

"Gary it's good to see you again." They bumped fists.

Brock noticed the new face, "You must be Gary's friend." He held out a hand, "The names Brock."

Satoshi gripped Brock's open wrist, "Satoshi Seizon. I've heard about your accomplishments." At that Brock's ego was boosted slightly, "And your failed attempts at getting Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny to go out with you." And deflated immediately. Gary and Satoshi shared a laugh, Brock joining in a moment later. Their attention was brought back to the battle at May's command.

"Use Blaze Kick!" May called out. Her pokemon launched towards Venasaur, her foot catching fire. As soon as she was a foot away Leaf called a counter.

"Venasaur grab Blaziken with Vine Whip and launch a Razor Leaf while she's weakened!" Venasaur launched her vines and they wrapped themselves around Blaziken's torso. Seeing as she couldn't escape easily May cried out an order.

"Blaziken free yourself with Flamethrower. Aim for the vines!" The fighting-fire type blasted a molten beam and at the vines wrapped tightly around her torso. They started getting roasted and Green bit her lip. **(Me saying Green is on purpose)**

She got an idea, "Venasaur throw Blaziken in the air and fire a Sunny Day at Blaziken!" Everyone except Venasaur was confused at what she was planning, but her grass starter nodded and heaved the Blaziken into the air, stopping the Flamethrower from frying Venasaur's vines off. When Blaziken was about to reach her maximum height Venasaur blasted a large ball of flaming energy at the blaze pokemon as she reached her maximum height.

"Blaziken block it!" May screamed desperately, not knowing what Lead was planning. Blaziken, reaching the maximum height before she started to fall held her arms in a 'X' position over her chest. The large ball of flaming energy was heaved into the sky and was about to explode when...

"Now!" Leaf yelled. Everyone looked towards her Venasaur who launched a Solarbeam right when the sun intensified, letting a Solarbeam be fired without charging. May and Blaziken were caught off guard, so no defensive moves were made. The grass beam of sunlight connected, landing a critical shot. Blaziken fell to the ground, nothing being able to stop her.

"Venasaur use Vine Whip to grab Blaziken and bring her to the ground." Venasaur nodded and launched her vines and grabbed May's Blaziken around the torso, slowing her descent to the ground. When reaching the ground May ran up to her fallen Blaziken and kneeled next to her while Leaf returned her Venasaur.

May smiled sadly, "You did a good job Blaziken, return." Her pokemon was returned and the shorter haired brunnete stood up and sighed.

"Nice job Leaf. I haven't had a great match like that since the Johto Grand Festival." May said as she and Leaf walked towards Dawn. The males noticed that they weren't noticed and walked inside the house. Leaf and May popped a seat next to Dawn on a bench near the house and Leaf smiled at May's comment.

"You as well May. Hey Dawn, if your Piplup evolved than what was with the Piplup in your arms?" Leaf asked, remembering a second water Sinnoh starter in Dawn's arms.

"Yay, well after my Piplup evolved into Prinplup he met a wild female Prinplup and instantly fell in love with her. They mated and conceived a child. After the Piplup was born the female Prinplup realized that she wouldn't be able to help the newborn grow, so she let me take her. That's how I got this Piplup." She referenced to the little bubbling water type in her arms. The emperor father smiled at his son, but was saddened that his mate couldn't be here.

May smiled at the story, "That's nice. Empoleon must be sad that his girlfriend couldn't be here to see how strong their child is." The females started smiling and laughing, their conversation taking a different turn.

Back inside Satoshi, Brock and Gary sat on the black linen couch, the dark red loveseat, and the dark green reclining chair respectively, all concentrating hard on something. In the middle of the table was a pile of money, $20 in a variation of coins and dollars. Behind it was a deck of cards more or less headed towards Gary. Each had two cards in-front of them. Satoshi had one card flipped up, showing an eight, Brock's flipped up card was a ten and Gary's flipped up cards were a ten and a two. They were playing Blackjack...

Brock spoke up, "Hit me." Gary complied and handed Brock a card, revealing a four. Looking at the card that was flipped upside down and spoke again, "Hit me." A three. Broke bit his lip and told Gary to hit him again...he got a nine.

Brock threw his cards near the pile of money, "Busted." He murmured, holding a hand over his face, knowing that he just lost $7.50. Gary turned to Satoshi and saw him grinning as he put his flipped upside down card back down and murmured, "Hit me." Gary slapped down a three, causing Seizon's grin to widen and flip his last card over, revealing a king.

"21." He smirked, grabbing the money while silently laughing at his new friends' faces. He snatched his wallet out and stuffed the money in.

Gary held his hands over his face, "Last time I try to gamble." Brock nodded, both ashamed that they lost their money. It hadn't been a lot of money but it was money none the less.

Satoshi stood up, "That was fun guys. We 'ought to do this some other time," At this all he received was groans of disapproval, and to this he laughed, "Anyway, I'm gonna go and train. We gotta be ready for this tournament, seeing as their will be 4,000 trainers there. You guys better train as well, and good luck." Satoshi stated and walked towards the door. When he twisted the knob and opened the door he pulled Leaf in as well who was trying to push open the door as well. She fell and crashed into Satoshi's chest who quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up to keep her from falling. Everyone in the room saw the position the two were in and started laughing at them, both of their faces flushed. Soon however Satoshi started chuckling as well, Leaf still embarrassed.

"Can you let go now?" Leaf squeaked out. Satoshi complied and let his grip around her waist go and set them back by his side, a grin still adorning his face. Amusement rolled through his eyes as he watched Leaf do her best to rid the blush on her cheeks.

She noticed the smile on Satoshi's face, "Stop grinning like that." Leaf whined making a cute pouty face.

Satoshi shook his head, "Sorry Leaf, it's just; you look so cute like that." Satoshi chuckled and ran a hand over her cheek. Silence filled the room after that comment and Satoshi had the thought that he should leave before they start speaking again.

**Outside...**

Satoshi face palmed, leaning against the now shut door.

_Dang it dang it dang it! _Satoshi repeated in his head.

"Now I've got to be more careful." Satoshi murmured, the grinned, "Anymore moves like that and I'm sure I'll get slapped." He gave a small laugh and stuffed his hands inside his pockets, standing up straight.

"Let's train then." Satoshi mumbled, gripping a full crimson red poke ball.

**Three Hours Later...**

After his training ended Satoshi thought that he should give his new friends about an hour to relax after his accidental move on Leaf. So now...

"I can't believe I lost myself in this forest." Satoshi face palmed for what seemed about the tenth time today.

Crossing his arms Satoshi looked around the clearing he now resided in for the time being, a good place to train. Grabbing two poke balls he threw them into the air and out materialized his Infernape and Pikachu. The two looked at him and noticed where they were.

"Pika...Pi KaPi..." Pikachu deadpanned.

Satoshi nodded sheepishly, "Yes, I did get lost." Pikachu and Infernape face palmed, Pikachu giving him an evil eye.

Satoshi just shook his head, his hand going behind him, "Don't worry. We'll train our new recruit while we're here." Satoshi murmured the last part, now being seen holding a black poke ball. Pikachu, seeing the ball, grinned while Infernape just smiled lightly.

Satoshi tossed the ball into the air "Let's go..."

**Around... Wow, 1:00 a.m...**

Satoshi saw the house he was staying at appear into view; the only light that appeared to be on was the porch light. Satoshi sighed; it was a long day training his new recruit and he was beat up pretty badly training him. Getting into the affect rang of the porch light Satoshi was seen with ripped clothes, dirt matted over everything. The only sign of blood on his was a cut over his lip, a little starting on his right cheek and a drip of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth. **(A/N: I'm soon going to be changing the rating to T.)**

Satoshi wiped the blood off his lip, glancing over it, "Dang, this guy can pack a big punch." He murmured and grinned, before creeping over to the door. Activating his stealth aspect he turned the knob slowly, and quickly he noticed, for some odd reason, the door was unlocked. Satoshi was confused; why would Leaf, or better, anyone leave the front door of your house unlocked? He slowly opened the door as to prevent the squeaking from waking anyone. He made his way inside and took note of the dim lighting.

"Dim light means that someone's sleeping out here." Satoshi mumbled, listening carefully to the indoor sounds. He found himself correct when he heard light snoring coming from the loveseat nearby.

Satoshi smiled and shook his head, "Leaf, why? You don't technically 'know me'. So why are you doing this?" He whispered, crouch walking towards the sleeping female. Upon reaching her Satoshi smiled softly at leaf's soft, peaceful face.

_If only none of this would've happened._ Satoshi remembered his time as Ash and the times him and Leaf would hang out and call each other during their different journeys.

"If only we got to spend more time together" Satoshi accidently mumbled. He started panicking when he saw Leaf shift on the couch and mumble something.

"Why Ash?" Leaf mumbled in her sleep, Satoshi noticing that her voice was a little broken. His face broke into a frown, saddened by her predicament.

_I'm sorry to have put you though this Leaf. Maybe I should have admitted that I was Ash to Gary._ Ash thought sadly.

"Your old friend is closer than you think Leaf." Ash said, standing up to head back to his room.

Leaf woke up five minutes after that, "Ash?" _I could've sworn I heard him._

**During the month… **

_**All I see is, shattered pieces. I can't keep it hidden like a secret…**_

In the beginning some moments were tense after Satoshi's accidental movement on Leaf but after about twenty questions that were bombarded on him by May and Dawn they moved on, ready to start training.

_**(I can't look away) **__**From all this pain in a world we made!**_

Satoshi mainly trained by himself but he would seldom battle with Gary to test his strength.

_**Every day you need a bulletproof vest; to save yourself from what you could never guess!**_

"Pikachu dodge and fire a Thunderbolt on the ground!" Satoshi commanded. The electric mouse jumped into the air dodging Gary's Electivire's Thunder Punch. The mouse fired a current of electricity that circled the large beast.

_**Am I safe today? When I step outside in the wars we wage!**_

"You know that Thunderbolt won't work! What are you planning?" Gary demanded. Satoshi just grinned before yelling out a command.

"Iron Tail, cause an EARTHQUAKE!" Gary face faulted at the command.

_**Our future's here and now, Here comes the countdown!**_

During their war the girls were just sat inside sipping on some coffee.

"I'm shocked you two could handle coffee with how hyperactive you guys are on a regular basis." Leaf giggled while May and Dawn just rolled their eyes.

"Oh ha-ha Leaf." May sarcastically said. Dawn just laughed at the two and decided to bring up a topic.

"So anything happened recently with you guys?" Dawn asked suddenly, catching May and Leaf caught off guard.

May just shrugged, "Nothing much. But before I met up with you I got in touch with Drew again. He said he was going to visit the tournament and support me." May said with a light blush.

Dawn swooned and Leaf whistled, "So you going to get with him?" Dawn asked mischievously. **(I need someone else to write these damn girls talk scenes for me. I really think during some of these scenes)** May just spat her drink like when Leaf spat hers.

"Sh-shut up!" May stumbled, Leaf giggling silently at her friend's misery. May wanted out of the hot seat and targeted Leaf.

"What about you Leaf?" May asked. **(She isn't panicking. She is calm when asking this) **Leaf was taken aback at the sudden question and started stumbling.

"Well uh…" She started, but trailed herself off, not knowing where to continue.

"Oh so there _is_ something going on. Care to explain?" Dawn was intrigued.

Leaf sighed, placing her cup of coffee on a coaster, "Well, last night when I fell asleep on the couch waiting for Satoshi to return so I could lock the door, I had a dream that I was face-to-face with Ash, and the only thing he uttered before disappearing was; '_Your old friend is closer than you think_'. It was weird, and the way how his voice sounded, it was more matured and close by. When I woke I saw nothing except the living room. I was confused and hurt at what Dream Ash said."

May and Dawn were silent.

Ash was seen lying against a tree, resting his hat over his eyes, singing to one of his favorite songs.

_**Sound it off, this is the call!  
>Rise and revolution!<br>It's our time to change it all,  
>Rise and revolution!<br>Unite and fight, to make a better life!  
>Everybody one for all,<br>Sound off, this is the call, tonight, we rise!**_

Leaf stepped outside, deciding to go for a walk, wanting to clear her thoughts.

"Maybe I'm just overthinking this stuff." She tried to tell herself. Continuing her stroll she heard a familiar tune.

_**Rise! Tonight, we rise; Rise! Tonight, we rise!**_

Leaf stopped in her tracks, trying to sneak out the voice, "Is that Satoshi?" She asked.

_**Like a hand grenade,  
>Thrown in a hurricane,<br>Spinning in chaos,  
>Trying to escape the flame,<br>Yesterday is gone!  
>Faster than the blast of a car bomb!<strong>_

"Where is he?" She asked, trying to locate the voice. She reached where he was and was going to go up and say high but his singing made her stay back.

_**And when the scars heal,  
>The pain passes,<br>As hope burns, we rise from the ashes!  
>Darkness fades away!<br>And the light shines on a brave new day!**_

_**Our future's here and now,  
>Here comes the countdown!<strong>_

_**Sound it off, this is the call!  
>Rise and revolution!<br>It's our time to change it all,  
>Rise and revolution!<br>Unite and fight, to make a better life!  
>Everybody one for all,<br>Sound off, this is the call, tonight, we rise!**_

_**Rise.  
>Tonight, we rise<br>Rise.  
>Tonight, we rise!<strong>_

_**In a world gone mad,  
>In a place so sad!<br>Sometimes it's crazy  
>To fight for what you believe!<br>But you can't give up,  
>If you wanna keep what you love!<br>(Keep what you love)  
>(Keep what you love)<br>(Keep what you love)  
>(Keep what you love)<br>Never give up, no!**_

_**Rise.  
>Rise and revolution<br>Rise.  
>Rise and revolution<strong>_

_**Everybody one for all,  
>Sound off, this is the call!<strong>_

_**Rise  
>Like we're alive<br>Tonight, we rise  
>Make a better life<br>Tonight, we rise!**_

_**Rise, rise, rise and revolution  
>Rise, rise, rise and revolution<br>Rise.**_

Satoshi stopped singing, signifying that the song was over, and stood up. As Leaf was going to walk over and say hi what he said stopped her.

"Maybe I should have just admitted to Gary. It probably would have made my life so much easier by this point." Satoshi held a hand to his face, taking his hat off with his other hand. Leaf was greatly confused by what Satoshi meant and decided to stay back, hoping to figure out more.

"Come to think of it, did Leaf even hear me last night?" Leaf fell backwards, snapping a few twigs and rustling the bushes. Satoshi snapped his head around and saw Leaf trying to swat the branches away.

"L-Leaf?" Said girl looked up and saw a shocked Satoshi.

"Uh-um, hi Satoshi." Leaf said, trying to stay calm.

"How much did you hear?" He carefully asked. Leaf just mumbled something, to which Satoshi replied, "What?"

"All of it…" Satoshi's eyes widened slightly.

**Me: There it is! You guys got a double feature! Now treasure this, because It'll never happen again! :D Anyway, I'm leaving what Ash/Satoshi does in the next chapter up to you guys! I'll have a poll and you guys can leave your OWN suggestion in your guys' reviews. I'll pick what I find the best option and give a shout out in the next chapter. R&R and LoL (Laugh out Loud)!**

**Me: WAIT A MOMENT! I know this is kind of stupid but have you guys been getting email/spam from China, because I have. Here's the translated version of the message:**

Insert e-mail tag Hello;

Stood on their own corner, pretending he is passing.

2013-7-1 12:10:39

**Me: Anyone?**


	4. Found

**Aura: Well you guys polled it and now you get to see what Satoshi/Ash does! No doubt he's going to be called Ash at the end of this chapter but let's get started!**

_**Found**_

Satoshi just stood in silence, watching Leaf stand up after falling. He sighed mentally, he knew this was going to happen, but this soon?

_I probably should've just told Gary. _He sighed, watching Leaf as she stared at him in the eye, trying to find the words. Satoshi knew he had two options, stand and hope he doesn't get hurt or just stay away until the tournament.

Satoshi spoke first, "I know you have questions." His voice broke Leaf out of her stupor.

"What?" Leaf asked.

Satoshi put his hand on his right hand, "I said I know you have questions. Ask away Leaf, I won't stop you." He braced himself for what may be asked. Leaf just tapped a finger against her cheek, trying to find the correct words.

She sighed after a minute, "First off, were you the one who spoke to me when I was asleep last night?"

Satoshi nodded, "Yes, I was." Leaf was now one step closer to figuring out Satoshi, but still needed to ask.

"Ok. Earlier today Gary rushed out of the house to go to the Pokemon Center. And just a few moments ago you just said: 'Maybe I should have just admitted to Gary. It probably would have made my life so much easier by this point.' Does that tie in to why Gary went to the Pokemon Center this morning?" Leaf was now demanding, feeling giddy that she could act like a detective.

Satoshi mentally laughed. He remembered when Leaf would always say when they were younger that she wanted to become detective.

He eventually just shook his head and sighed, "Yes. Earlier Gary met me in the Pokemon Center and…" He bit his lip, contemplating on whether he should just leave while he had the chance.

"Well?" Leaf asked anxiously, crossing her arms.

_No. I'm just going to be caught later on._ "Gary asked if I was Ash Ketchum." Leaf was silent, her arms falling to her sides.

_Garyi, after our questioning, went and asked Satoshi if he was Ash? May said Seizon meant __**survival**_. _Ash was found and taken to a hospital to see if he was alive. One faint beep every minute. Later his body was not seen and no one had a trace of where he was. Last night a mature Ash in my dreams said; "your old friend is closer than you think Leaf." Satoshi just said he said it to me last night. That could mean:_

Leaf looked up with tears in her eyes, "A-Ash?" Satoshi visibly flinched at what his old friend said. They stood there in complete silence, Leaf taking one step forward every few seconds. Leaf soon ended up standing in-front of Satoshi/Ash.

Satoshi looked into Leaf's blue eyes, "Yes Leaf?" The tears sprung from her eyes as Leaf latched her arms around Ash's back, refusing to let go.

"I-I ca-can't believe it!" Leaf cried, worried that if she let go he would disappear.

Ash just smiled lightly, "I'm here Leaf. Yes, I am alive." He said, not sure how to act on Leaf's possessiveness right now. Leaf eventually let go and stared into Ash's eyes, wiping the tears from her own. Ash smiled and Leaf followed suit, but then a loud echo could be heard as Leaf's slap sent Ash to the ground.

Ash clutched his throbbing cheek, "Oooooouch." He moaned in pain, a red new hand mark on his cheek.

Leaf 'humphed', crossing her arms, "Next time don't hide from us when you 'die'." She said, air quoting die. Ash was about to retort when he saw more tears leak out of his old friends' eyes. Ash stood up, ignoring the searing pain in his cheek.

He laid a hand on Leaf's shoulder, "L-" He was cut off by Leaf smacking his hand off her shoulder, her turning around, facing the direction of the house.

"Don't touch me." Her voice was colder than before, causing Ash to take a step back. He couldn't even retort as Leaf just walked away, leaving Ash as he was.

He sighed, "I knew it." He fell to his knees as a tear fell into the dirt. He eventually stood up after a few minutes, turning to face the direction of the Pokemon Center.

He smiled sadly, "I'd better go ask Nurse Joy for a room. Based on Leaf's reaction I'm not invited back." He walked back slowly, not regretting what just happened.

Leaf was walking back to her house, trying to rid the tears from her retinas. She didn't want to walk back with everyone seeing tears in her eyes and start questioning her repeatedly.

"Should I have done that?" Leaf asked herself but shook her head, "No. Ash didn't want to come back in the first place. I should respect his wishes and leave him be." She eventually started thinking if she should tell Gary, considering he was right that Satoshi was Ash but decided against it, once again respecting Ash's wishes of not being known. Reaching her house she opened the door slightly, peeping inside to see if anyone was there. She saw Dawn and May on the love seat just chatting while Gary and Brock were playing Go Fish, both having _absolutely nothing_ to do. Why they weren't training Leaf wouldn't know, she wasn't a guy.

She tried to sneak by, "Hey Leaf, how was your walk?" Dawn asked, leaning backwards to see Leaf upside down. Leaf momentarily jumped, shocked that Dawn noticed her.

She stumbled on her words, "O-oh it was good. I should get out more often. I-I'm going to head up to my room." She said shakily and, a little too fast. She dashed up the stairs and to her room, the door slamming shut. Everyone was caught off guard by how fast Leaf was but just went back to what they were doing, excusing it as pre-tournament jitters.

Well, everyone except Gary. After a few seconds of everything going back to normal Gary hit his cards sideways on the table and faced Brock.

"I'll be right back." He said setting the cards on the table. Brock just raised an eyebrow but shrugged anyway, lying back against his chair. Gary stood up and walked to his old friends' room.

Gary knocked on the door, "Come in." He heard. Gary opened the door and saw Leaf lying down on her bed, facing her window, sadness etched on her face.

Gary took a seat on her bed, his back facing hers, "What happened?"

Leaf just sighed, "You were right." Her voice sounded well, sad. It didn't have the Leaf type of voice; high and energetic.

Gary raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And how so?" It was a calm and unnerving conversation, and Leaf wanted to end it fast. She deeply sighed and sat up, bringing her knees to face the door and up against her chest.

"Satoshi _is _Ash. He admitted it to me during my walk." To Leaf's surprise Gary wasn't shocked at all, rather he shook his head.

"I had a feeling." He laughed a moment later, "Ash was never good with secrets. If fact I'm surprised he stayed hidden for so long."

He then turned to Leaf, "Where is he anyway? I expected you to run back inside yelling: 'Ash is back! Ash is back!'" Gary laughed when picturing that image.

Leaf wasn't even cracking a grin, "No. I respected his wishes of him not wanting to see us." She started crying and brought her head down to her knees. Gary could tell how broken she was, seeing her first friend return after so long, and this unexpectedly.

Gary frowned and stood up, "Where is he?"

Leaf pulled her head up, not bothering to hide the tears, "Why do you care?" Gary flinched at the coldness of her voice.

He sighed, "Leaf I know you're angry and depressed but it's better if we bring him back, so we could talk this out. Where is he?" Gary had an edge to his voice that Leaf knew quite well.

She nodded, "I would guess he would be at the Pokemon Center. But I would check all around, he never was good at directions." Leaf stifled a laugh while Gary snorted.

"Amen to that. Later Leaf. And note, Ash did this for a reason, so don't go thinking badly." He left the room and walked to the Pokemon Center, leaving Leaf to her thoughts. She pulled the cover over her entire body and slept. Gary walked carefully downstairs, a solemn look on his face.

When he grabbed the door handle, "Gary?" He turned his head slightly to have his right eye meet Dawn, "Where are you going?"

Gary stiffly turned his head to the door, gripping the handle, "I'm going to find Satoshi." He swiftly swung the door open and walked out, the door closing itself behind him.

May turned her head to Dawn, "What do you think happened?"

Dawn had a frown, "I think something happened between Leaf, Gary and Satoshi. Something bad."

Brock joined in, "Whose fault do you think it is?"

Dawn only sighed, "Only Gary would know that." The three shared a look and knew something would happen at the time of Gary's return.

Gary ran towards the Pokemon Center, checking his watch constantly. It was 9:54 p.m. **(Yep, I know big time skip. Just go with it)** and the Pokemon Center at 10:00 p.m. so he had to hurry. Upon reaching he slid under the closing metal gate so no one would get in. He patted the dust off his clothing and heard a familiar voice.

"Are you back to question me or did Leaf already tell you?" Gary turned to a couch and saw Ash sitting there, reading a book. Ash set the book down and looked up at Gary, hands together.

"Well?" Ash asked again. Gary shook himself back into reality and glared at Ash.

"Leaf told me." Ash sighed and scooted over, letting Gary take a seat.

"And as before I know you have questions." Ash said, letting Gary take over.

Gary put his fist to his forehead, "Ok. Why didn't you tell me you were Ash earlier?"

Ash just looked away, "I have no idea to be honest." Gary just shook his head. No way was he getting the reason out of Ash.

"I have no more questions, but, I want to know."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Know what?"

Gary turned his head upward, facing the moving ceiling fan, "What is going on?" Gary asked. Ash just sighed and put his head against his enclosed fists.

"I don't know Gary. I don't even know anymore." Ash said, giving a deep sigh. They sat there, contemplating something for the next few minutes before Gary spoke again.

"You know Leaf wasn't acting correctly earlier right?" Gary questioned the dense Ketchum.

Ash nodded, "I know. She would've slapped me again." Both Gary and Ash shared a knowing grin before Gary took over again.

"Yeah I get that and all, but you _know _what I mean. You hurt her Ash, you hurt all of us." Gary said, his voice starting to break again. Ash heard all of it and more from what was going on inside his head.

"I know. But I have a reason-"

Gary cut Ash off, "Than tell us the reason! Let us help you! We're your friends aren't we?" Gary demanded, standing up in-front of Ash. Ash was silent after the comment and all he could and would do was turn his head as so Gary couldn't see his tears.

"I wish I could. But my reason is my own." Ash whispered. Gary almost had enough with Ash and his secrets and was ready to lash out when Ash stood up, inadvertently knocking Gary away. Gary, from his place on the floor looked up and saw Ash with his head held down, the hat covering his eyes. Gary could've sworn he saw tears fall from Ash's eyes.

"I will let you know in due time Gary. Don't forget you may find out on your own. So please, don't ask." Ash demanded. Nothing was said any more as Ash moved to get back to his room he rented, leaving Gary as he was. After a minute of sitting there dumbstruck he stood up and sighed, he needed to get Ash back so he and Leaf could talk. Right now however sleep was more important. As Gary lay on the couch he kept thinking of a plan to get Ash back, and have Leaf _not_ kick him out again.

Morning came by and Gary soon sat up, stretching his spine back into alignment. He groaned, he was never sleeping on a couch again…

"I don't blame ya." A voice said behind him. Gary slowly turned his head upwards till his neck screeched at him to stop, and his eyes landed on a grinning Ash.

"Oh, and how would you know?" Gary asked groggily, pointing a finger in his direction. Ash just swatted the hand down before joining his first guy friend, cracking his neck.

"Well, when traveling on your own for a long period of time you're usually either late in the Pokemon Center and have to sleep on the couch or floor or camp outside." Ash commented, leaving Gary in a small state of shock. When did Ash know stuff?

"I know what you're thinking Gary and yes, I did mature. So, did you think of a plan yet to get me to talk with Leaf without her snapping at me?" Ash asked nonchalantly, drinking some water. Gary's mind was officially blown, and it was visible since his jaw was dropped and his eyes bulged.

Ash made a move to close his friends' mouth, "Keep your mouth shut or flies will get in." He said before shutting his jaw. Gary shuffled his jaw around before he shook his head.

"If I may, _how_ did you know what I was thinking?" Gary asked with an annoyed look.

Ash shifted slightly and grabbed a poke ball from his pocket, tossing it up. A bright white light came down and landed on his lap. It transformed and took shape as the light disappeared and out came a pink feline.

"Esp!" Espeon said cheerfully before rubbing her head against Ash's stomach. Ash gave a small giggle before petting the psychic cat.

"Wha? How did you get an Espeon?" Gary's mind was twisting and turning but couldn't get churning. Ash gave a small grin and couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I got her as an Eevee a while back, bruised and alone. I couldn't tell if she was hurt by a former trainer or a wild, she wouldn't tell me. But she's come to trust me and I respect that enough." Ash said with a small smile, "She's also the one who told me that you were thinking about trying to get Leaf to talk to me. Don't bother Gary, with what I did I don't deserve to have friends like you guys." Ash said sadly before he stood up and returned Espeon, but before he could Gary grabbed his shoulder, keeping him still.

"Hey, could we at least head to the coffee shop? We might as well get some last words in before you head out. Right?" Ash felt no problem with that and nodded his head, shrugging.

"Eh. I don't see why not. I'll go grab some stuff and meet you outside." Ash said and headed back up to go grab what was needed. Gary gave a small grin before he headed outside, pulling out his cell.

Leaf sighed as she shuffled under her blanket, sitting up slowly. She moaned softly, scratching the dust out of her eyes. She glanced over at her alarm clock and saw she awoke about thirty minutes before her alarm went off, at 7:30 a.m. Leaf groaned before crashing back into her pillow, pulling another over her face. As she was about to fall back to sleep however her phone went off, with a different tone.

_Wake me up_

_Wake me up inside save me!_

_Call my name and save me from the dark_

_Wake me up, bid my blood to run_

Leaf laughed, it said _wake me up_ when she wanted to go to sleep. She knew she couldn't ignore the call however and just sat up, glancing through blurred vision to see the caller.

It was Gary, "Hello?" She asked.

"Hey Leaf. I was wondering if you wanted to meet with me at the coffee shop here in town. I _know_ you're still feeling down so I'd thought I'd buy you something to drink and maybe we could talk." Gary offered.

Leaf raised an eyebrow, "You're not hitting on me are you Oak? You know Dawn wouldn't like that." Leaf said in a business/mischievous tone. She heard Gary gulp and could tell he was panicking badly.

"W-wait a minute. I d-didn't m-mean it like that! I swear! I just meant like a friend-to-friend." Gary was borderline stuttering but that was soon turned to annoyance when heard Leaf's unmistakable laughter.

"Jeeze, at least it's good to see if you're up…" Gary mumbled with a pout. Leaf continued laughing all the same however, effectively getting back at Oak for all the times he messed up her past dates with boys. She even accidently dropped the phone, and had to clutch her nightstand as to not fall off.

She heard Gary through her phone, "Either you overreact or I must've done something in the past to make you act like this." Gary deduced. He winced at the sound of a crash and got worried.

"Leaf?" He heard the sound of stuff being moved and objects crashing, and was pretty confused at what was happening.

A minute later Leaf came back on the phone, "About the 'coffee shop' thing; sure. I wouldn't mind joining you. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be there." Leaf finished with a laughing sigh. Gary rolled his eyes but nodded none the less, a big grin hidden beneath his face.

"Ok. See ya then." He closed the phone, ending the call, just as Ash came out, two poke balls lashed on his belt.

"Ok. Ready?" Gary asked. Ash nodded and Gary led him over to the shop. They spent the majority of the time just talking about past encounters, battles, and the upcoming tournament itself. Time went by quickly and soon they ended up reaching the shop where a surprise met Ash.

"L-Leaf?"

The girl standing up against the wall was shocked as well.

"Ash?"

They then turned towards the person responsible;

"**Gary!" They lashed out.**

**Me: :P It was a shutout in the poll!**

**23 people say: Confront Leaf**

**7 say: Leave until the Tournament**


End file.
